The machining (i.e. milling) of thin structures has been widely studied and described, and has enabled a revolution in the aerospace industry, the biomedical industry, and the electronics industry, among others. Components that were previously assembled from rolled sheet metal may now be manufactured as monolithic machined components. The improvement in precision and reduction in assembly cost has been dramatic, and such monolithic machined components are now in widespread use.
SPIF has enabled the creation of sheet metal parts without the use of dies, causing deformation at a local point. SPIF involves the use of a sheet metal blank held in a blank holder, with a single point forming tool used to locally deform the blank. The single point forming tool is controlled via computer. SPIF has provided flexibility in the creation of sheet metal parts with both symmetric and asymmetric geometries, in essentially any facility with a conventional 3-axis CNC machine tool or the like (having motion capability along three orthogonal axes). The ability to carry out dieless forming operations on the same type of machine tool used for machining operations provides the impetus for combining this process with the machining of thin structures.
What is still needed in the art, however, are processes that result in complex thin structures starting with plate stock or the like, without the need for a conventional 5-axis CNC machine tool or the like (having motion capability along three orthogonal axes and tilt capability in two directions) and without the use of rolled sheet metal. Preferably, a monolithic machined component is formed by a combination of machining and deformation, such that enhanced material properties and lighter weight are obtained at lower cost, among other advantages.